U.S. House
By Eric Ostermeier on December 30, 2008
As Minnesota gears up for congressional and legislative redistricting in the next few years, as well as the possible loss of a U.S. House seat, the Gopher State can take some pride in the fact that its U.S. House contests continue to be more competitive than the national average by...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 12, 2008
In a follow-up to yesterday’s discussion of the 2012 projected reapportionment, Smart Politics presents two tables to illustrate the diminishing political influence of Minnesota and the Upper Midwestern battleground states in the U.S. House as a result of population shifts in the United States. Table 1 demonstrates how the projected...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 11, 2008
About a year ago Smart Politics examined the political impact of Iowa losing a seat in the U.S. House, as it is projected to do after the 2012 reapportionment. State Demographer Tom Gillaspy recently projected Minnesota is also on track to lose a seat. Should this occur, the impact on...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 3, 2008
The Upper Midwest is home to a disproportionate amount of power when it comes to its Representatives in the U.S. House. Three of the twenty-one House Committee chairs hail from Minnesota and Wisconsin, with two of those, DFL Congressmen Jim Oberstar (MN-08) and Democratic Congressman David Obey (WI-07) each...
By Eric Ostermeier on November 4, 2008
Smart Politics’ final set in its series of national and Upper Midwestern federal and state electoral projections is the balance of power in the U.S. House. Smart Politics Projections: The U.S. House Even before the financial crisis hit the U.S. two months ago, Democrats were poised to pick-up several...
By Eric Ostermeier on October 31, 2008
As pundits weigh in on their pre-Election Day predictions, a great deal of attention has turned to the Gopher State – not only for its high profile Senate race, but also due to its two competitive U.S. House races in the 3rd and 6th Districts. The DFL plan to sweep...
By Eric Ostermeier on October 25, 2008
Iowa Democrats are poised to return to the U.S. House as the majority delegation in back-to-back elections for just the fourth time in the history of the Hawkeye State. If reelected, the state’s Democratic U.S. Representatives (Bruce Braley from the 1st District, David Loebsack from the 2nd District, and Leonard...
By Eric Ostermeier on September 29, 2008
The rejection by the U.S. House today of the $700 billion financial industry bailout package was the result of a stranglely-cobbled coalition of conservative Republicans, blue-dog Democrats, and liberal Democrats. The bill, backed by President George W. Bush, eventually won the support of just 205 Representatives, with 228 voting ‘nay.’...
By Eric Ostermeier on July 21, 2008
Media coverage of the 2008 election is rightly centered at the moment on the fascinating 2008 presidential race; any remaining coverage seems to be focused on the U.S. Senate – and whether or not the Democrats can turn in a miraculous performance in 2008 to achieve a filibuster-proof majority, as...
By Eric Ostermeier on June 16, 2008
After picking up one seat in the 2006 election, the DFL eyes another in 2008. The retirement of Republican Jim Ramstad, after 18 years of service, opens up a competitive 6th Congressional District. The DFL has enjoyed success in U.S. House races in recent years, particularly since 1976 when Minnesota...
By Eric Ostermeier on December 17, 2007
Democratic Congressman Dave Loebsack—in his first term representing Iowa's 2nd District—endorsed Senator Barack Obama for president today, to make an even 1-1-1 split among the top Democratic rivals - reflective of the close 3-way race heading into the last few weeks before the January 3rd caucuses. Last Friday, Hillary Clinton...
By Eric Ostermeier on November 27, 2007
Iowa's influence on presidential politics is in the spotlight right now, with its caucuses now just 37 days away, on January 3, 2008. The winner of each party's caucus is by no means guaranteed to go on and win the nomination, but a surprise showing can go a long way...
By Eric Ostermeier on September 18, 2007
After Republican U.S. Representative Jim Ramstad announced his retirement Monday, effective at the end of this term (his 9th), the buzz around Minnesota politics was that his open seat would produce a competitive Congressional District race—one that was ripe for the picking for the DFL. And there is data...
By Eric Ostermeier on August 20, 2007
The nation-wide partisan swing from the Republicans to the Democrats in 2006 was felt across the United States in a number of statewide and district races. Democrats won a majority of governorships, took back control of the U.S. House and Senate, and won back several state legislative chambers. This change...
By Eric Ostermeier on August 14, 2007
12:00 pm. Jim Ramstad's speech today is entitled "Life as a Centrist in the New Congress." Ramstad has touted his moderate, centrist credentials in recent years, and there is evidence in his voting record to bolster this claim. In 2006, the Republican congressman was rated fairly dead center -- the...
By Eric Ostermeier on August 13, 2007
Smart Politics will be blogging live covering Republican Congressman Jim Ramstad (MN-03) from the Humphrey Institute on Tuesday, August 14th, from Noon to 1:15 pm. The talk, sponsored by the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, is entitled " "Life as a Centrist in the New Congress" and...
By Eric Ostermeier on July 13, 2007
On Thursday the U.S. House voted 223-201 to require the Secretary of Defense to commence the reduction of the number of United States Armed Forces in Iraq to a limited presence by April 1, 2008. The Upper Midwestern delegation voted strictly along party lines: Democratic Representatives Oberstar, Walz, Peterson,...
By Eric Ostermeier on June 25, 2007
12:00 p.m. The title of Congressman Jim Oberstar's (MN-08) talk today at the Humphrey Institute is "Transportation Policy and America's Future." Oberstar is the Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, after serving more than a decade as its ranking Democratic member. In part due to the 17-term Congressman's...
By Eric Ostermeier on June 22, 2007
Smart Politics will be blogging live covering Congressman Jim Oberstar's (MN-08) talk at the Humphrey Institute on Monday, June 25th, from Noon to 1:00 pm. The talk, sponsored by the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, is entitled "Transportation Policy and America's Future," and is the sixth...
By Eric Ostermeier on June 11, 2007
9:30 a.m. Congressman Keith Ellison (MN-05) came into the 110th Congress as one of the Democratic Party's new stars (and the only Muslim in the House), despite his predecessor (longtime Congressman Martin Sabo) failing to offer a ringing endorsement during the 2006 campaign. Ellison nabbed a prized seat on the...
